Shifter
by HolmesianDeduction
Summary: Everyone knows the story of the infamous rivalry between twin brothers, Vash and Knives, but very few are familiar with the third plant hybrid, who was engineered with a different purpose in mind…
1. The Arrival

As the sun set on Jeneora Rock, Knives Million stared at his brother with incredulous lavender eyes. 

"That again?" he sneered, gesturing toward the small pistol his twin held carefully in one hand. "You're pointing that _toy_ at me again?"

"Nothing's changed Knives." Vash the Stampede peered over his trademark sunglasses, green eyes flashing, "Not even after a hundred and fifty years."

The violet-eyed disaster smiled grimly, "No, I suppose not…but we shall see; we shall see." At this last word, Knives lunged forward, becoming a pale white blur against the dark backdrop of the rapidly darkening sky.

Suddenly, there was an ear-splitting screech as a large, black raven hurtled through the air toward the two brothers. As the bird drew closer, it began to shift and change; rapidly taking on a human form.

Startled, Vash whirled around, aiming his gun on the spot where the creature seemed to be heading. Silently, Knives put a hand on his brother's arm.

"No Vash," he shook his head, "She won't land there, she's too smart for that."

The 'humanoid typhoon' turned to face his twin, "You know this…this _thing_?"

Knives nodded, his eyes taking on a strange misty quality as if he were somewhere else, "Yes, I know her…"

Suddenly, a cold, cynical voice that seemed almost devoid of human emotion rang out of the darkness behind them, "Yes, Vash the Stampede, this is true. Your brother and I _have_ met on occasion."

Both brothers spun around and inhaled sharply.

She was roughly 5'5" with pale skin, and sharp marblesque features accentuated by pale gray eyes and raven hair. Her slight frame was cloaked in a charcoal-colored duster over a black turtleneck, black pants, and knee-high black boots. With her, she carried a small, brown paper bag.

Vash narrowed his eyes dangerously, "Who and _what_ are you?"

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, brother," Knives murmured under his breath so that the newcomer couldn't hear him.

The shape-shifter smiled coolly, "I am called Onyx, but as far as _what_ I am…" Her eyes narrowed into an unfriendly glare, "That is none of your business."

"Wrong answer!" Quick as lightning, Vash raised his gun to shoot, but just as he pulled the trigger, a pencil-thin beam of white light flew from the shadows, destroying the bullet, and sending the pistol flying. As the dust settled, he barely glimpsed _something_ receding _into_ her hand. _What was that?_ he wondered.

Suddenly, Onyx laughed, but it was a short, shallow laugh that spoke more of a sorrowful cruelty than of any real mirth. "Well, well, well…" she shook her head slowly, "Isn't this funny? I come here to find two brothers trying to kill each other, and when I would endeavor to prevent it, one of them tries to kill me!"

"Oh yes," she reached into the bag and pulled out a long, red coat. "This belongs to you, does it not? I ran into these two girls on my way here, recognized the coat, and offered to take it off their hands…they thought I was crazy." She tossed the coat at him, and noting his fearful expression, added on to her statement. "Don't worry, I saw to it that they escaped safely," she paused, and for a moment, it her eyes seemed to soften a bit, "Oh, and Vash? You should be careful. The smaller, dark-haired girl…I think Meryl Strife was her name. She worries about you…and not because she's worried about her job." Suddenly, she turned her back on them and began to walk away.

"Wait!" Vash swallowed loudly as the enigmatic woman looked over her shoulder at him, raising one arched eyebrow in askance. "Where are you going?"

Onyx shook her head, "I will be back shortly, I just have some unfinished business to take care of. While I'm gone, maybe you should try speaking to your brother, since you seem to be so interested in my history…"

Sighing, she turned toward Knives, who had remained silent up to that point. "Knives," she dropped her voice to a whisper, "You have my consent to tell him everything you know…within reason, of course." And with that, she disappeared into the darkness.


	2. The Past

"Well?" Vash turned on his brother, "Talk!"

Knives sighed, "Isn't it interesting how unemotional she is?" He laughed ruefully, "She makes me look like you!"

Vash frowned, "But that look she gave me when she was talking about Meryl…I could've sworn that for a split-second, she looked incredibly sad."

Knives shook his head, "No, no, no. You misunderstand me. She feels emotion all right; she just chooses to ignore them, that's all…and would you believe it? It all stems from a tragic incident in which we were both involved…"

Vash's eyes widened, "Lost July?"

Knives laughed, "Think much farther back than that…I'll give you a hint: she's almost as old as we are…"

The 'humanoid typhoon' staggered, then sat down on a nearby rock, "You're kidding me."

His brother sighed, "No kidding. Evidently Rem," (he grimaced as he mentioned her name) "failed to tell us about her brother, who resided on another ship, along with another hybrid like us: a girl called Onyx. Unlike us, she began to develop strange powers at a (relatively) early age, such as shape shifting. However, like us, she carries within her the ultimate weapon, which we once believed only we had."

Vash winced, "She has Angel Arms?"

Knives nodded, "Two of them to be exact. One in each arm; like me." He waved his right arm toward where she had disappeared, "What's more, she has more control over them than we do. She can not only use them in any given form, she can also have them appear in smaller versions through her fingertips."

Vash tilted his head in thought, "So that tiny beam of light was…"

Knives smiled crookedly, "Yep, that was an Angel Arm. You're lucky she's such a good shot; if she'd missed you wouldn't be here right now." He shook his head, "But that's beside the point. Back to the story. Anyway, Rem" (once again he winced as he mentioned her) "failed to tell us of her brother, Felix, who resided on another ship with Onyx. At this point, Onyx was almost a perfect mix of the two of us…on one hand she was generally mistreated and ignored by the crew; as was I…but on the other hand, she formed a very deep bond with Felix; very similar to you and Rem. Yet again, like me, she was mad at the world, but unlike me, she managed to keep it all bottled up until one fateful night."

Vash looked up, rage apparent in his verdant green eyes, "The night you murdered Rem?"

Knives shot his brother a look of almost profound sorrow, "Yes. That night, just as Rem left us, Felix received word of the fatal situation. Eager to help his sister save the fleet, he took Onyx aside. 'Look,' he told her, 'Do you remember me telling you about my sister, Rem?' When she nodded, he continued, 'Well, there's a desperate situation, and I have to go help her fix it. Until I get back, I need you to pilot the ship; alright?'

"She narrowed her eyes, 'And what if you do not return? I'm the only one on the ship who can survive such a crash. I'll be the only one alive.'

"Shocked by her blatant pessimism, and by the fact that she was right, Felix blinked. 'Well…if all else fails, you won't be alone. There are two others who have been traveling with Rem. Their names are Knives and Vash, and they're identical twins…you'll know them when you see them.' And with that, he disappeared."

Vash blinked, "That's it?" He shook his head, "That doesn't explain much."

Knives turned, glaring daggers at his twin, "I haven't finished yet! Besides, you jump to conclusions too quickly." He sighed and rolled his twilight colored eyes irritably, "Anyway; sensing Felix's urgency, Onyx immediately seized control of the ship, but she couldn't save it. By the time Rem and Felix had fixed the computer, it was already too late for them, and the same could be said of Onyx's ship. The ship was by then, so far off course that the mother ship's command signal couldn't reach it. Seeing what was happening, Onyx did everything she could, but it was no use. The ship suddenly began plummeting towards the planet's surface. As the ship entered the atmosphere, the sudden pressure changes were too much for the crew, and they died a most painful and bloody death by implosion. So Onyx found herself surrounded by mutilated bodies and covered head to foot in blood from the unfortunate crew. At this point, Onyx, being Onyx, was horribly worried that she wouldn't be able to land the ship safely. Again and again she attempted to correct its course, and every time she failed, but came a little closer. However, when she was finally able to override the system, it was too late, and under what must have been enormous strain, she blacked out only moments before impact."

Vash tilted his head quizzically, "Then what?"

Knives sighed, and sitting down on a rock, he continued, "When Onyx awoke, it was to utter carnage. There were bodies everywhere, and even Onyx herself was in pretty horrible condition. As she walked cautiously through the wreckage, it suddenly occurred to her that Felix was not coming back. Enraged at her apparent abandonment, she finally unleashed all the fury she had pent up over the years in the only way possible to her."

Vash's mouth dropped open, "Oh my God…Angel Arms?"

Knives nodded grimly, "Yes. She had no idea what they really were at the time, just that she'd been told about them for as far back as she could remember, so when they activated, she was taken completely by surprise and instead of imposing her will upon them, as you have seen her do; she simply let them do whatever they would, lashing out at anything and everything in her path. Thus, through her unmatched fury was formed the very landmark on which we stand."

The 'humanoid typhoon' gasped, "Jeneora Rock?!" When Knives nodded, Vash bent down to scrape away at a loose patch of muddy soil to reveal a name: _SEEDS 009_. "Oh my God," Vash up, "Knives, this is one of the missing ships!"

Knives nodded weakly and gestured toward the large, iridescent globes at Jeneora's peak, "Perhaps that's why the plants love it so…still, I doubt you believe it."

"No." Vash lowered his eyes and dropped his voice to a hoarse whisper, "I believe you…I saw it in her eyes. Diablo: her true nature revealed…"


	3. Two of a Kind

"After that," Knives paused and took a deep breath, "Nobody knows what became of the woman who would later be known as the bounty hunter, Onyx Faustnoir until she and I met ninety years later when we were about eighteen."

Vash nodded and gestured for his brother to continue, "And?"

"It all began when I was stopping in May City, and a young man was murdered. Naturally, I was suspected, and to prevent me from skipping town, they locked me up in a rather unkept jail cell with no food, and then subsequently left me to rot. About an hour later, I awoke to the sound of gunshots, and before I could do anything, the door swung open and she stepped in. She looked about my 'age', but there was something strange about her; something inhuman. Maybe it was her eerie—er…that despite her youthful appearance, in her eyes…in those strange gray eyes of hers, I saw the knowledge and sorrows of countless decades. Silently, she motioned for me to follow her. As soon as we were out of the building, she led me to the roof and looking me full in the face, instructed me to close my eyes and concentrate on her no matter what. Desperate to escape, I decided to trust her, and did what she'd ordered. What happened next was indescribable."

Vash raised one eyebrow skeptically, "Yeah? What happened next, I wonder?"

Knives grinned with an almost innocent glee that Vash had never seen before in his brother. "Then I was flying. I remember the feeling the wind whipping around my body…but then I remember looking over and seeing a large, gray-eyed raven beside me…and then everything went black."

Vash leaned forward inquisitively, "You can shape shift too?"

Knives sighed and shook his head, "No. I was only able to do it at the time because she willed me to do it. I've tried since, but I can't do it at all…she had some sort of psychic hold on me for a while, I guess."

Vash smiled faintly. "If you asked me, I'd say she still does," he muttered under his breath.

Not hearing his brother's muttered accusation, the lavender-eyed killer continued, "Several hours later, I awoke in a hotel room a few towns over with a terrible pain in my right side. Looking around, I couldn't see much, so I quietly slipped out of bed and crept into the next room where I found my savior casually drinking tea and reading the paper. Without even looking up, she gestured for me to sit down in a nearby chair, and not missing a beat, she looked me in the eyes and said: 'You're a lucky one, Knives Million. Most men would die from a fall like that.'

"When I asked her how she knew my name, she merely laughed and replied that she had been searching for me for almost ninety years, and had known of me and my brother for longer than that. At that time, she introduced herself and related to me the tale I have just told you. Unlike you, however, I didn't believe her immediately, and demanded some proof."

Vash shrugged, "And did you get your proof?" He chuckled morbidly, "If so, I'll bet you got more than you bargained for."

Knives winced, "She took me out into the middle of the desert, where she simply told me to hold still if I valued my life. She then walked off a few paces, turned to face me again, and thrust both hands in her pockets. The next thing I knew, she was so close I could feel her icy breath on my neck…she really moved that fast!! However, she wasn't stopping there, and before I could say or do anything, she had whipped that left hand of hers out of her pocket." He shook his head at the memory and shivered visibly, "Her touch was so light, it might have been a caress, except that where she had touched me burned like molten fire!! As I fell to the ground in agony, she waved her hand before my face, and for an instant, I saw the remnants of something receding back into her hand. Then, convinced perhaps that she had made a believer out of me, she helped me back to the hotel, where I soon fell asleep."

Vash stared openly at his twin brother, eyes wide, "She used Angel Arms on you?!" Knives nodded solemnly. "Yes. And what's really funny," he slipped his shirt down off his right shoulder to reveal a perfectly oblong, white scar at the base of his collarbone, "is that, although the plant healed all the injuries you gave me…for some reason, this particular one never healed quite like it should have…" He laughed weakly, gingerly tracing the scar's outline with his fingers, "Perhaps the plants wished me to remember the consequences of scorning their sister…" He shook his head, "Anyway, the two of us traveled together for one month of pure bliss. Before I knew it, I found myself telling her everything about me. It seemed that I had finally found someone like myself…someone who shared my views and my sorrows alike, someone who was as misunderstood by others as I was, and to whom I could speak of my secret ideals and desires without being called a monster. But then, one day, she simply disappeared without a trace, leaving only a short, hastily written note in emerald green ink. Grief-stricken and alone, I vowed that I would find her again, not knowing that even as I trailed her, you were trailing me as well; and years later, as I lay broken and bleeding in the ruins of July City, a large, black raven flew overhead and I heard a faint telepathic voice say: Quick! This way! . Suddenly, a strange blue-haired man with glimmering golden eyes appeared, looked over at the bird and nodded. Then everything went black…until now." Vash was silent for a minute, then, "So she saved your life…the blue-haired man must have been Legato Bluesummers……" Knives nodded absently, "Yeah…probably. That would make sense, I suppose." The man in the red coat turned and gazed at his twin knowingly, "You love her." At this accusation, the violet-eyed disaster looked as if he had been slapped. "No brother," he whispered, his voice wavering, "I'm not like you…I can't love anyone…not even one of my own kind…all I can do is be thankful for her understanding." Vash got up and took a stride toward the peak of Jeneora Rock. "You're wrong Knives…" he looked off into the distance, lost in memory, "You have a human side and you know it." 


	4. Twins

A few minutes later, Onyx returned carrying a large, black saxophone case. Ignoring her companions' puzzled expressions, she set it on the ground and turned to face them.

Looking at Vash, she said, "I assume that your curiosity has been pleasantly satiated?"

Vash nodded his confirmation, "More-or-less."

Smirking, she turned to Knives and nodded in his direction, "And can I assume that he took this well?"

Flinching beneath her gaze, the lavender-eyed twin looked away, and biting his lip, replied, "Yes. I suppose he took it all relatively well…"

Onyx Faustnoir nodded approvingly, "Good. Knowing my origin will probably make it easier for you to understand my motivation for stopping this fight," she paused and retrieved a velvet bundle from somewhere inside her coat, "or at least making it even."

She knelt before the box, and gesturing for the two brothers to do the same, began unrolling the right side of the bundle. "Within this bundle," she whispered so quietly that the brothers had to strain to hear her, "Within this bundle is your legacy; salvaged from the ruins of Lost July…"

Turning to face Vash, she held out a silver pistol that gleamed like quicksilver. "Vash the Stampede," she began almost ceremonially, "This belongs to you."

Vash nodded solemnly, "Thank you."

Onyx shook her head, "No. Thank your friend, Chapel."

The 'humanoid typhoon' tilted his head, a puzzled expression etched on his features, "Chapel?"

Puzzled by his response, Onyx was silent for a moment, but then she simply sighed, "How thoughtless of me." She shook her head, "Of course you wouldn't know him by his 'Guns' code name. It's much more likely you would know him by his true name, as Nicholas D. Wolfwood, the infamous gun-slinging priest."

Vash took a step back, shocked by what he had just heard, "Wolfwood was one of them?"

She shrugged, "Only at my request, and even then, quite reluctantly. You see, Nicholas and I are old friends, and you could say he owed me a favor, plus I agreed to send half the money from all my bounties to his church to help support their orphanage……a very interesting man, that Nicholas Wolfwood."

Sighing, she gazed at Knives, and finished unrolling the rest of the bundle to reveal a matching gun of a strange, black metal that gleamed with an eerie, ebony glow. Holding it out to him, she caught his gaze and held it, "This belongs to you, Knives Million…use it as you see fit."

Knives broke away from her gaze and ran his fingers over the gun's sleek metal casing, "Thank you…but what about you?" He looked up at her, "You can't use Angel Arms all the time…using it too much, too frequently could kill you!! And…" He thought to himself, _And you know I can't bear to live without you…_

Onyx stared at him for a moment, almost as if really seeing him for the first time, and for a minute, he feared that she had heard his silent confession. Then she laughed weakly and shook her head, "Don't be ignorant! Of course I have another weapon!" Quick as lightning, she erupted into a flurry of motion that ended in two guns resting comfortably in her slender hands. The guns were made of the same glossy, black metal that Knives' gun was made from, but these weapons had deep red jasper handgrips that were engraved with skulls. "See?" she whispered so only he could here, "You needn't worry for me, my friend, as I am obviously not lacking in defense."

Vash blinked in amazement, "Well, that's really cool, but I'm curious. How did you know these were ours?"

She tilted her head in his direction, never taking her eyes off Knives, "It was easy. You're names are engraved on the handles." Sighing, she flipped the twin guns back into her duster, "However, I must go."

Knives opened his mouth to protest, but it was too late, and the clever gunslinger had already been replaced by a large, black she-wolf. Shaking its furry head, it turned and bounded up the slope of Jeneora Rock.

Suddenly, the wolf looked back at him, smoky gray eyes flashing in the moonlight. _Do not fret, Knives Million my friend._

Knives shuddered as the telepathic message echoed through his consciousness. As if sensing his discomfort, the voice grew quieter.

_We may yet meet again…and besides_ there was a mental shrug, I_ like you Knives…you're a very amusing man. _again there was the mental shrug. _But now there is another I must speak with, and so I take my leave._

Unsure as to exactly what her statement regarding him had meant, Knives simply nodded, and waved unobtrusively in the direction in which she had vanished. "Goodbye, Onyx………"


	5. Anizul

Meanwhile, at Jeneora's peak, a plant lay broken and dying in her shattered globe.

Suddenly, a soft voice rang out in the darkness, "Anizûl…you're dying Anizûl."

Lifting her head, Anizûl answered telepathically, _I know._

Silently, Onyx knelt beside her, "Your job is done, I could just leave you to die, but…" she trailed off.

Shocked, the plant stared at her with large, luminous eyes the color of twilight, _But what? What's to stop you from abandoning me?_

Smiling sadly, Onyx reached and smoothed back the plant's hair with long, tapered fingers. "But, unlike some, I always repay my debts," she paused before continuing, "Anizûl; you saved the life of someone dear to me…and so now I save yours."

Anizûl tilted her head weakly, blood speckling her lips, _How? You cannot heal my wounds_.

Onyx nodded, "This is true…but tell me; haven't you ever wished to fly? To travel the winds freely and as you wish?"

The dying plant shuddered as another spasm wracked her body, _Y-Yes…I have always envied the birds who flew in the sky above me…_

Onyx closed her eyes, "Then so be it, Anizûl, so be it." Suddenly, the plant let out a resounding shriek as her form shifted and transformed. Within minutes, the wounded plant was gone, and in its place a beautiful golden eagle. Gathering it up in her arms, Onyx tossed the bird into the air and stared in silence as it flew off over the eastern horizon, where the sun was slowly rising. "Good luck," she murmured to no one in particular, "Good luck my sister…" And with that, she began the long trek back to the base of the landmark she created.


End file.
